London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1953
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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128
An additional hygienist was recruited in November, 1953, to give prophylactic
treatment, including the use of sodium fluoride.
Unfortunately, the meticulous and time-consuming nature of the technique involved
in topical application of sodium fluoride prevents the ready adoption of the treatment
on a general and widespread scale. The legally essential supervision by qualified professional
staff of dental hygienists, and their accommodation and equipment are further
obstacles to the use of large numbers of this type of ancillary worker. In present circumstances,
the Council has restricted itself to the use of only two hygienists and to authorising
the use of 2 per cent. sodium fluoride in the Council's dental services as a commendable
treatment.
T able VII
| 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions | 1,370 | 1,499 | 1,592 | 189 |
| Number invited to attend for first treatment | 2,389 | 4,188 | 4,348 | 535 |
| Number invited to attend tor subsequent treatment | 2,851 | 4,232 | 1,284 | 180 |
| Attended—first treatment | 2,109 | 3,365 | 3,653 | 489 |
| Attended—subsequent treatment | 2,662 | 3,936 | 1,237 | 170 |
| Treated—first treatment | 2,104 | 3,359 | 3,652 | 484 |
| Treated—subsequent treatment | 2,660 | 4,033 | 1,235 | 166 |
| Discharged—treatment completed | 1,834 | 3,121 | 3,618 | 388 |
| Discharged—failed to complete treatment | * | 104† | 72 | 6 |
| Gum treatments | 365 | 395 | 495 | 47 |
| Scalings (cleanings) | 3,122 | 3,986 | 3,989 | 624 |
| Polishings (of artificial restorations) | 1,823 | 2,553 | 1,695 | 338 |
| Oral hygiene instruction | 2,562 | 4,655 | 4,137 | 654 |
| Sodium Fluoride: | ||||
| First application | 658 | 1,220 | 260 | 16 |
| Second application | 597 | 1,170 | 270 | 13 |
| Third application | 559 | 1,102 | 262 | |
| Fourth application | 494 | 1,074 | 215 | 9 |
* Figures not available.
† Figures for June-December.
STAFF
in staff matters the year produced no events of outstanding importance, but a few
changes of some interest are touched upon below.
Chief
Nursing
Officer
In July Miss Evelyn Robinson, Superintendent of Health Visitors and School Nurses
to the Lancashire County Council, was appointed as the Council's Chief Nursing Officer
following the resignation of Miss J. M. Calder.
Recruitment
of dental
officers
Reference is made on p. 122 to the significant increase in the number of persons dealt
with through the priority dental services following a further improvement in the
recruitment of dental officers. On 31st December the Council employed 52 full-time
dental officers. Part-time officers provided the equivalent of the services of a further
20 full-time officers. The corresponding figures at the end of 1952 were 50 and 10 respectively.
Assistant
Chief Dental
Officer
In 1952, as an experiment, administrative assistance for the Chief Dental Officer was
provided by four dental officers, each acting for a part of his time as an Area Dental
Officer. Owing to the expansion in 1953 of the work of the priority dental services,
mentioned in the previous paragraph, it again became necessary to employ an Assistant
Chief Dental Officer and the use of Area Dental Officers was temporarily discontinued.
Training of
student health
visitors
Queen Elizabeth College had to terminate at the end of the summer term the arrangement
under which the college participated in the Council's scheme for training health
visitors. The Council was fortunate in being able to arrange for the University of London